What are the best practices for using data to support students with disabilities in educational leadership?

Purpose is key when collecting any data. If this is for an individual pupil, then the best data sources are likely to be the child, the parents/carers, the report from medical professionals, and if appropriate an educational psychologist report with recommendations; essentially start with the individual child before jumping to stamdardised tests and comparative data. This will inform you about the needs of the child, and identify any learning barriers or developmental milestones (hit or miss) that can inform the next steps.

First off, it's important to figure out where your data is coming from and why you need it. Think about standardized tests, assessments in the classroom, student portfolios, behavioral records, surveys, interviews, or observations – these are all potential sources. But here's the key: be clear about why you're collecting this data. Are you tracking student progress, finding learning gaps, assessing the impact of interventions, making informed decisions, or communicating with everyone involved? Defining your goals helps ensure that the data you gather serves a meaningful purpose in enhancing the educational experience for students with disabilities.

Always align Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals with both standards-aligned instruction and data sources. For instance, if a student has a reading goal in the IEP, connect it to specific reading benchmarks from standardized tests. Use classroom assessments to tailor instruction to their needs, and leverage behavioral records to address potential challenges affecting their learning. This holistic approach ensures that data not only monitors progress but directly informs targeted interventions and instructional adjustments, fostering a seamless integration between educational standards, personalized goals, and diverse data sources.

Prior to teaching we must learn; LEARN who it is we are teaching that is! We must learn the audience, their interests, preferences, aversions, possible diagnoses, present level of performance and of course their learning styles to best support their needs! It is in using a person centered approach that we as special education teachers, early interventions, therapists and leaders alike gain invaluable insight, which provides us the opportunity to best serve these students best. Once we understand the expectations, then we can utilize a person first approach to educate and provide for the person as a whole!

One thing I found helpful is data sources which aid’s research, teaching and learning. The are many sources of data which could include primary data, secondary data, etc. One could use data cum information elicited from behavioral records, learners profile, classroom assessments, questionnaires, or observations in addition to other data from standardized exams. Additionally, you must make clear the goals and inquiries that direct your usage of data. These are used to guide a study, to access if learning is achieved and for feedback purposes too.

An example of FERPA compliance would be: redacting demographic or otherwise identifying information regarding an individual. This is typically done when as mentors, train others, or share case information for educational purposes. This includes but is not limited to: redacting sensitive case information, sending file within an organization/agency using initials or sending any outside organizations emails with the subject line as “SECURE: “ followed by the initial of the individual. Another example would be never displaying an individual’s photo and name in a public area, or never leaving a file open on the computer or on a desk where others could easily access it. It’s imperative to remain compliant and respect everyone’s right to privacy!

Remember that this doesn't just apply to formal communications. I always think of those signs you see in hospital elevators reminding people that confidentiality is both a duty and an obligation.

In the UK we have to comply with GDPR, but sharing information within a professional school network is generally seen as best practice. Who knows when cover will be allocated or playground incidents occur. Knowing the needs of the child is important for all staff (who all sign levels of professional confidentiality agreements in their contracts anyway).

Data collection is crucial to services rendered to any student or individual. It is absolutely imperative that when collecting data, that we evaluate our biases first, and that we ultimately use a person first analysis when evaluating the data collected. In my experience, I have unfortunately encountered organizations where data on a student was not accurately being collected, and so the data was flawed and was a gross misrepresentation of the student’s abilities. When data is not accurately collected, we obtain information that does not allow us to best support our students. We must also be careful not to report inaccuracies as it directly affects their instruction, which is meant to promote progression and not regression.

Verifying that the data you gather is trustworthy and accurate is a crucial ethical consideration in data use. It involves making sure the data is not only correct but also dependable, relevant to the situation, up-to-date, and representative of the students and their surroundings. Employing suitable methods and tools for data collection and analysis is vital, along with scrutinizing for errors, biases, or gaps that might impact data quality. When interpreting and sharing the data, exercising caution and transparency is essential, acknowledging any limitations or uncertainties. Upholding these standards helps ensure the integrity and reliability of the information used in decision-making processes.

If you go back to stage one and ensure the data you are collecting is relevant, then this stage is easier. School leaders like using external or standardised sets of data, as it removes any internal bias from internal data collection (unintentionalbut statistically evident). But for some pupils, standardised testing is not relevant. Again, think if the individual in this scenario.

The ultimate goal of using data is to inform and improve instructional practices as an educational leader, and to support the learning and development of students with disabilities. First, Data is used to help teachers identify where students are on the learning continuum. Second, teachers can use this data to develop lesson plans and to differentiate instruction. Knowing the right skills and strategies can support teachers in progressing monitoring. Data supports teachers in having success outcomes in moving students to grade level proficiency.

If any data in your school is not being used to inform planning for the progress of the pupils or a whole school, then stop collecting it. I have been guilty of this in the past and it is a waste of valuable resources, human and financial, in the set up, administering and inputting. Data for purpose please.

For data to make sense, especially when you intend to implement new learning interventions, you need to have a baseline to use a criterion of sort. You need to pretest your learners or collate historical data about each learner before implementing any learning intervention. This will help you accurately measure the direct impact of your intervention after post test. That is, the data that you collect to measure the impact of the learning intervention should be compared to the data you collected before the intervention. This is the way to be sure that you are not wasting resources of time, energy and finances.

Using data in educational leadership aims to enhance practices and support students with disabilities. The focus is on identifying strengths and needs, planning evidence-based strategies, and implementing interventions. Data plays a crucial role in monitoring and evaluating the impact of actions, facilitating adjustments, and fostering improvements. Communication and collaboration with students, staff, families, and stakeholders are integral, involving them in the decision-making process guided by data. This comprehensive approach ensures a data-informed practice that positively influences learning and development.

In my experience, teachers are hungry for clear, reliable data. I am reminded of the first time data became available from our county’s instructional data warehouse. As I met with members of our English department, I was struck by the open and professional nature of the response from teachers as they compared student error analysis and shared strategies that seemed to provide the best results. I could contrast this with the closed and confrontational response to less focused data that was used as a blunt instrument of change. Leaders must provide reliable, specific student data. The data must be presented as a tool for improving student performance and honing instructional skills, not used in isolation to evaluate teacher performance.

Staff use data all the time, often instinctively. Formative data in lessons informs the next step in the classroom. It dictates grouping, level of challenge, scaffolsing levels and level of input or support direct from the teacher. What I would say is lacking, is proper feedback on a school by school basis for external exam data. This would support departments and teachers in identifying areas for improvement in the delivery of examination courses. Generally I would say that staff welcome useful data to inform practoce.

Cultivating a data-positive culture in your school or organization is a key best practice. This involves promoting a culture centered on inquiry, learning, and improvement, valuing data as a resource and opportunity. Providing professional development and support for staff to enhance their data literacy and skills is crucial. Encouraging staff to incorporate data into their practices contributes to a constructive and collaborative environment. It's essential to establish a safe and trusting atmosphere where data serve constructive purposes, fostering growth rather than being used for judgment or punishment.

I always look to promote a data-positive culture by integrating database problem-solving, examining growth rates for both students with and without disabilities. Is this systems problem? Which, if any subgroups, are making the desired growth? Highlighting comparative growth rates ensures a comprehensive view. Teachers gain trust in data literacies as they see how interventions impact diverse student groups, fostering informed decisions aligned with individual needs. This holistic approach creates a more inclusive and effective educational leadership strategy.

From my experience teaching in public schools in Nigeria, school leaders hoard data about learners' performances in standardized or external examinations from teachers. Some do this probably to prevent teachers from informing learners about their performances. They reason that learners might not want to pay for the results if they already know how they performed. What such school leaders fail to realize however, is that by this practice, they encourage failure in their schools; failures because teachers miss out on the opportunity to analyze the results from these standardized examinations and thereby loose valuable lessons that these data could provide to inform areas of improvement.